Recovery of hydrogen from refinery and petrochemical light ends streams

a technology of light end streams and hydrogen, which is applied in the direction of cold treatment separation, liquefaction, lighting and heating apparatus, etc., can solve the problems of releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, the byproduct hydrogen is not enough to meet the demand, and the cost of hydrogen is about three times as much, so as to achieve high yield and purity

Inactive Publication Date: 2005-03-03
WYLIE
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  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

In most refining and petrochemical sites recovered byproduct hydrogen is not adequate to meet demand.
Unfortunately, on purpose hydrogen costs about three times as much as recovered byproduct hydrogen and also releases carbon dioxide into the environment.
A primary reason why hydrogen recovery rates are low with current technology is that hydrogen bearing light ends streams usually contain non-condensable gases—nitrogen and carbon monoxide—and these gases are difficult to separate from hydrogen with current technology.

Method used

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  • Recovery of hydrogen from refinery and petrochemical light ends streams
  • Recovery of hydrogen from refinery and petrochemical light ends streams

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Embodiment Construction

[0016]FIG. 1 is a simplified flow plan of the process of the present invention in a preferred embodiment. Table 1 presents temperatures, pressures, flow rates and compositions for key process streams that are indicated in FIG. 1.

[0017]FIG. 1 does not show auxiliary equipment necessary to operate the process of this invention but that is not critical to describing the invention, such as pumps, valves, and some heat exchangers; these equipment items are well understood by process engineers to be required.

[0018] The feed to the process of this invention is a hydrogen bearing stream 1 that contains propane and lighter hydrocarbons. The feed to the process also contains non condensable gases—including nitrogen and carbon monoxide. Non condensable gases complicate recovery of hydrogen.

[0019] The feed stream for the process of the present invention 1 is derived from the overheads 2,3 of prefractionator distillation columns 4,5 commonly used in petroleum refineries. The feeds 6,7 to the ...

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Abstract

A process for recovering hydrogen from a stream comprised of hydrogen, non-condensable gases, and propane and lighter hydrocarbons, wherein the process comprises the steps of stripping hydrogen and non condensable gases out of the feed light ends stream with methane vapor, washing the stripped hydrogen stream with liquid methane to absorb the non condensable gases, and washing the hydrogen stream with a hydrocarbon lean oil such as liquid ethane to absorb methane, to produce the product hydrogen stream.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] This invention relates to recovering hydrogen from light ends streams produced in petroleum refineries and petrochemical plants. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] Hydrogen is used in petroleum refineries to remove sulfur from fuel products and to saturate olefins and aromatics to make chemical products. Hydrogen is produced as a byproduct in petroleum refineries and petrochemical plants. Byproduct hydrogen collects in light ends streams containing light hydrocarbons and also non-condensable gases-including carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen. The light ends streams are usually processed to recover propane, propylene and heavier hydrocarbons using conventional fractionation techniques at ambient temperatures, and then further processed to recover ethylene, ethane and hydrogen at cryogenic temperatures. Streams processed at low temperatures are usually dried to remove water and treated to remove corrosive compounds including hydrogen cyanide, h...

Claims

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Application Information

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Patent Type & Authority Applications(United States)
IPC IPC(8): C01B3/50F25J3/02
CPCC01B3/506Y10S62/932C01B2203/048C01B2203/0485F25J3/0219F25J3/0238F25J3/0247F25J3/0252F25J2200/30F25J2200/70F25J2200/74F25J2205/30F25J2205/50F25J2210/06F25J2210/12F25J2245/02F25J2270/90F25J2290/40C01B2203/0475
Inventor WYLIE, ROGER
Owner WYLIE
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